Smart Cards (SC) are widely used in conjunction with security measures such as authentication and encryption. For example, in order to access a computerized device and to access information using the computerized device, one may have to couple a smart card to the computerized device. Access to the computerized device and to information may be granted following a successful interaction between the computerized device and the smart card. The interaction may involve user input.
A smart card may be programmed or otherwise set to have security related information. An example is identification information of the smart card itself, for example, a serial number. Another example is an authentication password, where access to functionality of the smart card may require knowledge of the authentication password. A further example is one or more files that include specific items of information, such as personal identification information of one or more authorized users of the smart card.
Yet another example is a certificate/private key pair. A certificate may include a public key that is associated with the private key of the pair, and may also include a signature, identity information and a field defining one or more purposes assigned to the certificate. Private keys are stored in a secure area on the smart card and are not accessible from the outside. Certificates, on the other hand, may be exported from the smart card to other devices.
A certificate may be assigned, for example, for authentication of a user, for encryption of information, for signing information, for securing web browsing, for login into a WEB service and/or for providing an access to a network or a device. A smart card may include one or more certificate/private key pairs.
A certificate that is assigned to a particular purpose may include information specific to the purpose. For example, a certificate assigned for login into a network may include information about the network. The purpose defined in a certificate is not mandatory, and a certificate may be used for any other purpose.
Information is usually initialized into a smart card using dedicated equipment and usually by dedicated personnel, such as members of an IT (Information Technology) department of an organization. A smart card may be initialized for specific purposes with a particular number of certificate/private key pairs that are assigned for these specific purposes. At a later time, however, there may be a need to use the smart card for a purpose that is not defined in any of the certificates. Intervention of the dedicated personnel may then be required in order to initialize an additional certificate/private key pair in the smart card.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity.